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Floor Speech

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Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, thank you to my colleague from Wisconsin Senator Johnson. I have been proud to work with him on this bill over the last couple weeks.

The way this came to the floor--Senator Johnson and I were making the case in the conference. I had a bill that actually was a bill about paying our troops. Imagine that--we want to pay our military during a shutdown, including the Coast Guard.

Senator Johnson came to me and said: Dan, I have a broader bill. Let's pay everybody who is required to work to keep us safe in America.

I said: Great idea. Let's do it.

So this is the Shutdown Fairness Act. Senator Johnson already talked about what it does. It is very, very simple. If you are required to work because your job is important--primarily because you are keeping Americans safe--then you should be paid.

We have a great example right here. All these Capitol Police officers right now keeping us safe right here in the Capitol--they are not getting paid. Air traffic controllers and TSA are keeping us safe right now in America. Senator Cruz is going to talk about what they have been going through. They are not getting paid. They should be paid. Of course, our military. President Trump has worked magic to keep them getting paid, but that is going to run out soon.

So this is a very simple bill. There is nothing more American than paying people for their hard work, especially when the Federal Government is requiring them to work.

So what happened?

Oh, by the way, Senator Johnson mentioned that it is well over 200 groups now. I have a long list of public employee unions, the Teamsters, private sector unions--all kinds of organizations across America are saying to our colleagues on the other side of the aisle: Pass the short-term CR but also pass this bill.

So what happened? When we worked this 2 weeks ago, there were a number of Democrat Senators who came to us and were very interested in doing that because it makes sense. How could you not be interested in doing it?

We can negotiate healthcare and these other issues, but the men and women in the Federal Government who are working without a paycheck--you have been hearing stories about the FAA guy driving an Uber because he has to feed his family. He is not getting paid. And he has a really important job as an air traffic controller.

So we thought our bill was going to pass. A number of Democrat Senators were like: Hey, we agree with this.

That was 2 weeks ago. So what happened? Here is what happened--the same thing that has been happening every night. The minority leader, Senator Schumer, and the Democratic leadership are pressuring the other Democrat Senators: Don't do it. Don't do it.

The pressure comes on them. It is happening right now. The pressure comes on.

Don't do it. We have to make sure the left wing of the party is happy.

You heard Senator Schumer recently, that ``we are winning the shutdown.'' I will tell you who is not winning the shutdown--by the way, I have no idea who he is talking about when he says ``we,'' but I will tell you who is not winning the shutdown: the men and women in America who work for the Federal Government who aren't getting a paycheck and are required to work.

So that is what happened last time. Senate Democrats were going to vote for our bill, and the leadership on the Democratic side, because they want to use these people as leverage, convinced them, pressured them not to vote for it.

So I hope my Democrat colleagues, at least nine of you--actually, it is eight of you--have the courage to look at your leader and go: You know what, Chuck, sorry. I am going to pay the marines. I am going to pay the Navy. I am going to pay the FAA. I am going to pay TSA. And we are certainly not going to use them, as Senator Johnson said, as pawns.

Right now, they are being used as pawns.

So here is the deal. To my Democratic colleagues, 2 weeks ago, a number of you were going to do this--we had discussions--and then you kind of got pressured to not.

Show some courage. Walk up and vote with us to pay the men and women in America, Federal workers who are keeping us safe and haven't gotten a paycheck. There is nothing more American than that. Have the courage to do it.

I yield back to my colleague from Wisconsin.

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Mr. SULLIVAN. I want to thank Senator Johnson for coming to the floor and making this very strong case. It is about safety, and it is about the American way. There is nothing more American than paying people for the work that they do. We all know that.

Again, Senator Johnson's bill is a simple bill. It is about paying the Federal workers who are required to work to keep us safe. All these jobs we are talking about are jobs that keep the American people safe.

Of course, the military is a big part of this bill. They epitomize the Federal workers who are keeping us safe, and they epitomize courage. So do many of our Federal workers as well. I hope my colleagues on the other side of the aisle just show a little bit of the courage that our military displays every day all over the world--just a tiny bit of that courage.

Again, to my Democratic colleagues, we know you are getting a lot of pressure from your leadership. Senator Cruz did a great job explaining the origins of that. By the way, it has nothing to do with healthcare. It has nothing to do with anything. It has everything to do with appeasing the far left of the Democratic Party, which is rising. So we get that you are under pressure.

But you all know that voting for this bill is the right thing to do. I know my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. They are good people. As Senator Johnson just said, have a little bit of conscience and a little bit of courage, the kind of courage that our military displays every day, and vote for the Shutdown Fairness Act right now. Every one of you knows it is the right thing to do. I hope you do it.

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